Interview
Elizabeth Wood
Elizabeth Wood lives in British Columbia, Canada and has been a practicing artist for the past 20 years. Her works are predominantly digital collage with its rich potential to portray psychological states. In her work she strives to make an inner, private world public with the hope of building a shared awareness of and empathy for others. Elizabeth Wood studied visual art at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and in the Visual Arts program at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. Her work has been exhibited in various cities around the world including Portland, USA; Outer Hebrides, UK; St. Petersburg, Russia; Kyoto, Japan; and Berlin, Germany. She has participated in a number of Artist Residencies including the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada, The Vermont Studio Centre, USA and SPAR Art Residency in St. Petersburg, Russia.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I worked in the technology sector for many years and studied at art school part time at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. In 2014, I decided to leave full-time work to focus on being a full time artist.”
What inspires you?
“My art work explores the underlying, personal narratives that share a universality of themes: vulnerability, loss, resilience, and hope. I am inspired by the notion of an inner, private self where thoughts and emotions unfold like ever-changing weather patterns often in strong divergence with the public self we show to the world. This theme was largely developed by the loss of both parents in early childhood.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I am drawn to understand better how trauma creates a strong need to express oneself as well as an equally strong desire to protect oneself by remaining hidden. In my experience, the private inner world is often fraught with the sense of feeling adrift. By revealing aspects of the complex dichotomy between the inner and the outer self, I hope to establish recognition and connection with others.”
How would you describe your work?
“Multiple layered photographic montage works building upon the theme of interiority.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Doris Salcedo, Mark Bradford, Kurt Schwitters and John Stezaker.”
“My art work explores the underlying, personal narratives that share a universality of themes: vulnerability, loss, resilience, and hope.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process begins with reflection on the theme of interiority. I reflect on the drama of the inner self and how it is affected by traumatic experiences. I do not set out with a clearly straightforward path. My creative process follows a pattern of ongoing experimentation. It is a haphazard path fraught with failures along the way until, through perseverance, there is a breakthrough and I feel closer to an image which represents what I wish to communicate.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I think there are different roles for artists in society. Some artists make art to give beauty to the world, others to give expression to thoughts and feelings that otherwise are not easily communicated.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I had a month long exhibition at Nagoya University in March of 2024 which was noteworthy in that I was encourage to include slide projections on one of the walls. I had never considered that approach in the past and was very pleased with the visceral aspect these images created at a very large scale in a darkened room. It suited my work in a manner that I had not experienced before.”
